Bob, Frank and Corine asked these questions to RTL Nieuws. They also wonder: could it be that there were fewer hospital admissions in the summer, because there are fewer people with a vitamin D deficiency?
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In recent months, several exploratory studies have been conducted on the link between a lack of vitamin D and the corona virus. A recent research is that of Northwestern University in the US state of Illinois. Researchers compared patient data from hospitals in Asia, Europe and the US.
They concluded that patients in countries with many deaths, such as Italy and Spain, had significantly lower vitamin D levels than patients in countries where mortality is lower.
Conflicting Results
Whether we have to stock up on vitamin D en masse to prevent hospitalization? That conclusion is too short-sighted, says lung specialist Rob Janssen at the Canisius-Wilhelmina Hospital in Nijmegen.
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“There are studies that show that people with a low vitamin D level are more likely to get the corona virus, but there are also studies that claim the opposite,” he tells RTL Nieuws.
Not a bad idea
The idea that there may be a relationship between the two is not very strange to him. Older, more extensive studies have shown that there is a link between vitamin D and respiratory infections.
“With daily and weekly use of dietary supplements, you see a decrease in the risk of acute respiratory infections. But that is especially true for people who naturally already have a lower vitamin D content.”
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What is Vitamin D?
According to the Nutrition Center, vitamin D is necessary to absorb calcium from food into the body. It is important for the growth and maintenance of strong bones and teeth. Vitamin D also plays a role in the proper functioning of the muscles and the immune system.
The main source of vitamin D is sunlight. The body can produce vitamin D itself in the skin under the influence of sunlight. Vitamin D can also be found in food: especially in fatty fish and with somewhat lower levels in meat and eggs. Vitamin D is also added to low-fat margarine, margarine and baking and roasting products.
Young children, women over 50, men over 70, people with a medium skin color, people who spend little time outside and pregnant women are advised to take extra vitamin D.
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Incidentally, it may also be the case that it works the other way around: that patients who are in hospital at first had no shortage at all, but that the corona virus caused this.
“We know that respiratory diseases can cause a dysregulation of the vitamin D content. Inflammation can lead to a deficiency. This can also be seen in asthma or COPD,” explains Janssen. Whether that also works in the case of the coronavirus, according to the lung specialist, has not yet been investigated.
Summer
According to the lung specialist, it is also too short-sighted to conclude that there were fewer hospital admissions in the summer, because people then naturally produce more vitamin D. “It could be, but there is no evidence for it. There are also other factors at play, for example that you are more indoors in the fall and winter and are closer together.”
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The Nutrition Center shares Janssen’s view that more research needs to be done to reach a conclusion. According to the institution, it is currently insufficiently demonstrated whether taking (extra) vitamin D reduces the risk of a corona infection.
Cause and effect
This is because the results so far mainly come from observational research. Cause and effect cannot be demonstrated in this type of research.
“It is relatively easy to see whether patients in intensive care have a vitamin D deficiency, but that does not say anything about the cause of this deficiency. More extensive research needs to be done,” says Iris Groenenberg, knowledge specialist nutrition and health at the Nutrition Center.
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Groenenberg also acknowledges that there is a relationship between vitamin D and certain respiratory infections. But that does not mean, according to her, that this is also the case for the corona virus. “We know that the coronavirus works differently than, for example, upper respiratory tract infections.” With a so-called upper respiratory infection, the mucous membrane of the nose and / or throat is inflamed.
RIVM and NVWA
The RIVM has no position on vitamin D, a spokesman said. The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) previously warned that taking nutritional supplements, such as vitamin pills, does not help against the corona virus.
According to the NVWA, taking more vitamins does not increase your resistance and you are not better protected against bacteria and viruses. “What does work for the best possible resistance is healthy food, good sleep and exercise.”
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